Manila was considered one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Asia before the Second World War. In 1945, after several years of Japanese occupation, Manila suffered a terrible fate when it was faced with a combination of Japanese cruelty and American firepower. By the time the Americans and their Filipino allies gained control of the city, it was completely devastated and would take years to rebuild. The battle was one of the most devastating instances of urban warfare during WWII.

Manila Under Japanese Occupation

One day after Japanese aircraft bombed Pearl Harbor, the Japanese began launching air raids over major sites throughout the Philippines. Tokyo aimed to conquer the Philippines, set up a puppet regime, and seize control of natural resources throughout the islands. This was part of Japan’s plan to create the so-called “Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere,” a euphemism for its Asian empire. After landing tens of thousands of men across the archipelago, Japanese forces seized Manila on January 2, 1942. They subsequently defeated the rest of the Allied garrisons on the islands within a couple of months.

Japan’s military administration of the Philippines was headquartered in Manila, making it the center of power for Japan in the Philippines. For the rest of the war, Japan garrisoned Manila with a mixture of army and navy units to keep order. Members of the Kempetai, Japan’s secret police, worked with local collaborators to hunt down anyone deemed a threat to the Japanese. Citizens of Allied countries were locked up in prisons or internment camps like Santo Tomas, along with American POWs captured during the initial seizure of the islands. Even though Japan granted the Philippines “independence,” it maintained control and employed vicious methods of repression.

Filipinos were used to fighting outside occupiers; they had spent years fighting against Spanish and American imperialism. Now, they sought to work with Americans who escaped the fall of Bataan to fight Japan from the shadows. In addition to spy rings in the city, a group of guerrilla fighters called Hunters ROTC operated near the city and attacked Japanese targets. They waited patiently for the US military to return.

American Landing on Luzon and Advance to Manila

When General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia in 1942 after fleeing the Philippines, he vowed that he would return at the head of an army to liberate the islands. In 1944, he landed on Leyte with the US Sixth Army. Once Japan was defeated there and on Mindoro island, MacArthur’s command, called Southwest Pacific Area Command (SWPA), prepared for the invasion of Luzon. General Walter Krueger’s Sixth Army, initially consisting of the I Corps (6th and 43rd Infantry Divisions) and the XIV Corps (37th and 40th Infantry Divisions), was assigned to land on a stretch of beaches on the Lingayen Gulf in northern Luzon. Afterwards, they would strike south and east to defeat Japanese forces. One of the priority objectives for the Sixth Army was retaking Manila.

On January 9, 1945, the Sixth Army landed at the Lingayen Gulf and proceeded to move inland. Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita, commander of the 14th Area Army, had three groups of troops defending the whole island: the Shobu, Shimbu, and Kembo groups. He sought to concentrate his forces in the north of the island and ordered his men to fight a delaying action. Under pressure from American forces and Filipino guerillas, Japanese infantry and armored units withdrew to the center of the island.

General Oscar Griswold’s XIV Corps pushed south from the beaches towards Clark Field, the largest airfield in the Philippines. By the end of the month, they seized it from the Kembo group and advanced to the northern outskirts of the city to link up with American forces that had landed south of Manila.

Japanese Defenses and the Start of the Battle

General Yamashita became concerned that Japanese forces in the Manila area would be cut off by the American advance. When paratroopers of the 11th Airborne Division landed south of Manila, Yamashita ordered the Shimbu Group commander, General Shizuo Yokoyama, to destroy infrastructure and weapons dumps in the city and retreat east. Yokoyama complied, but Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi announced he would remain in the city with over 16,000 sailors and marines to defend the city. Three army engineer battalions remained in the city and joined preparations to defend it.

Admiral Iwabuchi’s Manila Naval Defense Force had eight army and navy battalions in the city and its outskirts. Much of the garrison consisted of crews of sunken ships and did not have training for an urban battle. They did have large stockpiles of weapons and engineering equipment. Multiple lines of defense were dug north and south of the city and buildings were turned into fortresses. Iwabuchi hoped to make the battle as costly as possible for the Americans.

From the north, the 37th Infantry and newly arrived 1st Cavalry Division pushed south on MacArthur’s personal orders. General Joseph Swing’s 11th Airborne Division transferred from the Eighth Army and joined the Sixth Army’s advance. They began to break through the southern Japanese defenses. Griswold’s forces pushed south and liberated the Bilibid and Santo Tomas prison camps by early February. They were joined by Filipino guerilla units including Hunter’s ROTC. By this point, three American divisions with nearly 40,000 men surrounded the city. Iwabuchi’s garrison was cut off.

Crossing the Pasig River and Capturing Nichols Field

General Griswold’s GIs found themselves facing tougher resistance as they continued deeper into the city. Despite having successfully liberated two prison camps, the Americans still had a long way to go. Japanese defenses north of the Pasig River were meant to be a trip wire but were formidable nonetheless. When American forces secured the north bank by February 6, MacArthur declared total victory prematurely. The 37th Infantry and 1st Cavalry Divisions still had to enter the main areas of the city.

When troops of the 148th and 129th Infantry Regiments attempted to cross the Pasig in small boats, they found themselves under heavy fire from Japanese sailors on Provisor Island. Within a couple of days, they managed to seize the island and create a foothold on the south bank, but resistance was fierce. Admiral Iwabuchi had concentrated elements of five battalions south of the river and Japanese fortifications were strong. The 37th Division pushed slowly southward while the 1st Cavalry Division carried out an envelopment maneuver around the city to meet the paratroopers from the south.

The 11th Airborne Division was not tasked with entering Manila proper. Instead, it was ordered to drive the garrison out of Nichols Field. The 187th and 188th Glider Infantry Regiments advanced along the runways and overran the dug-in defenders. The Japanese had so many naval guns at the airfield that one company commander radioed to his superiors “Tell Halsey to stop looking for the Jap Fleet. It’s dug in on Nichols Field.” By February 12, the Airborne had secured the airfield.

Street Fighting and Clearing Intramuros

The area south of the river witnessed brutal house-to-house fighting. Japanese forces, surrounded without hope of relief, were determined to fight to the death. They set ambushes for advancing American troops and forced the Americans to turn to heavy firepower. MacArthur restricted the use of air power but consented to artillery and mortars being used in areas with a heavy Japanese presence. American forces destroyed every Japanese position they could with tanks, artillery, mortars, and flamethrowers. The fighting resembled battles in Europe such as Aachen and Berlin.

By February 17 and 18, General Griswold’s forces secured the Rizal Baseball Stadium and the Philippine General Hospital, both of which were major Japanese strongpoints. Reinforced by 1st Cavalry Division troopers, the 37th Infantry Division managed to keep the Japanese pinned in Manila’s old Walled City, known as the Intramuros district. Admiral Iwabuchi unsuccessfully attempted to break out of his encirclement on February 18, leaving 6,000 men trapped in the pocket.

On February 23, American artillery pounded Japanese positions in Intramuros. For the next three days, American troops moved into the district, battling Japanese on every corner. When it became clear that the Japanese were defeated, Admiral Iwabuchi and his subordinates committed suicide. American forces secured major government buildings, including MacArthur’s headquarters from before the war, and ended the battle on March 3 by capturing the rest of the district. For the rest of March, American troops and Filipino guerrillas patrolled the rubble for Japanese stragglers before turning north and east to finish off the rest of Yamashita’s forces.

The Manila Massacre

Amidst the heavy fighting between American/Filipino and Japanese forces, the civilian population of Manila paid a horrible price during the destruction of their city. Of all the Allied cities fought over in WWII, Manila was one of the most heavily damaged, on par with Warsaw. It is estimated that over 100,000 Manileros died during the battle, mostly due to Japanese actions but also due to American firepower. The scale of Japan’s atrocities in the city ranks among the worst war crimes committed by any party during WWII.

Japanese forces had long believed that Filipinos were overwhelmingly hostile to their presence and that they passed information to the Americans. This environment of distrust was compounded by Japanese racism towards non-Japanese. Throughout the battle, Japanese forces gangraped and murdered Filipino civilians in the areas they controlled. In Fort Santiago, Manila Cathedral, and other prominent locations in the city, civilians were gunned down, bayoneted, or beheaded by the Japanese. There is evidence that Japanese officers commanded their men to commit atrocities by claiming every Filipino in the battle zone was a guerilla. For these atrocities, General Yamashita was sentenced to execution by hanging by an American military court after the war.

While American forces did not commit atrocities like these, their firepower devastated entire neighborhoods and killed thousands of civilians in the process. Despite efforts by MacArthur to restrict American firepower, the formidable Japanese defenses meant that the use of heavy weapons was inevitable. As a result, Manila was one of the most destroyed cities on Earth and a textbook case of urbicide. The reconstruction of the city took several years, and while Manila is now a thriving and dynamic city, the legacy of its destruction remains apparent.

Throughout the Apartheid years, South Africa’s leaders believed that their system of white rule was under imminent threat from both internal and external enemies. Having seen the effectiveness of nuclear weapons in WWII, officials in Pretoria decided that a robust nuclear program was an effective deterrent. When it relinquished them in the 1990s, South Africa set a precedent for self-disarmament that gave people hope that the nuclear age could finally come to an end.

South Africa in the Cold War

From 1948 to 1994, South Africa was ruled by the National Party, an autocratic party devoted to the maintenance of White Rule in South Africa. It authorized the total segregation of society between White people and anyone else of Black, Asian, or mixed-race background. It also promoted a strongly anti-communist ideology, arguing that racial equality was a communist plot to destroy the country. As a result, the security services brutally crushed resistance against the system, often accusing its critics of being Soviet stooges.

Initially, its policies were seen as a reflection of common practice in the African continent. When the National Party came into power and enshrined existing racist practices into law, it followed the practices of European colonies throughout the continent. However, the Cold War changed power dynamics in Africa. South Africa’s racial and security policies were seen as anachronistic and outrageous. Many revolutionary leftist factions, based inside and outside of the country, vowed to overthrow the National Party’s rule.

As South Africa began facing an increase in hostile threats, its leaders vowed to turn the state into a veritable fortress. South African prime ministers, from D.F. Malan to P.W. Botha, all sought to increase South Africa’s conventional and unconventional weapons capacity. The development of a nuclear arsenal was a part of South Africa’s deterrence efforts and one of the country’s closest-kept secrets. In doing so, South Africa became the only country in Africa to have created and allegedly tested a nuclear weapon.

The Creation of SAFARI-1

Prime Minister D.F. Malan, elected in 1948, had the twin objectives of modernizing South Africa while preserving White rule. South Africa is known for its rich mineral resources, including uranium. In 1948, his government and the Volksraad (the Apartheid-era parliament) passed the Atomic Energy Act to regulate the uranium industry in the country. The Atomic Energy Board was responsible for the country’s efforts to extract uranium and establish a civil nuclear program. It gained a boost when South Africa signed onto the American-led Atoms for Peace program.

Atoms for Peace was not meant to be a weapons program. Instead, it was meant to be an international information-sharing forum on nuclear research for civil purposes. Therefore, when South Africa signed the agreement, it did not arouse suspicions that the country aimed to develop nuclear weapons. It had already allowed the US and UK to buy a lot of its own uranium and its nuclear scientists had close ties to counterparts in the West. By joining Atoms for Peace, South Africa could gain American technology to create its own nuclear reactor.

In the late 1950s, South Africa joined the IAEA. In 1959, PM Verwoerd, a major supporter of South Africa’s nuclear program, approved the creation of a reactor at Pelindaba. A.J.A. Roux, a senior official in the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, was in charge of the program. American engineers helped create the reactor, known as SAFARI-1. By 1965, South Africa had its first nuclear reactor, a pivotal step in the creation of an atomic weapons program.

From Civil Nuclear Power to Nuclear Weapons

In addition to South Africa receiving American backing in building SAFARI-1, the United States also sent nearly 100 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium fuel. Before the country began to become isolated, South African officials believed that they had a lot of support from the West and could afford to build a plutonium reactor called SAFARI-2. Scientists hoped to enrich plutonium and heavy water to generate nuclear power but the project was abandoned after a few years.

By the 1970s, South Africa was facing the attention of major Communist powers that supported revolutionary factions such as the African National Congress and the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) in Namibia. Western countries were also starting to distance themselves from Pretoria. The country’s security deteriorated as a result of the Angolan Civil War and the Soweto Uprising. According to F.W. de Klerk, the RSA began to develop weapons based on a gun-type ignition in 1973. They tested explosives for the bomb at Somerset West near Cape Town. To carry a uranium warhead, South Africa is alleged to have asked Israel in 1975 for Jericho missiles. While Israel did not provide missiles, it did assist South Africa in preparing for a test and offered nuclear expertise for research and development purposes.

While the RSA did have ample uranium enrichment capability, it lacked the ability to carry a warhead. The South African Air Force began testing some of its Buccaneer bombers to carry and drop nuclear weapons in a war. Armscor, the main South African weapons manufacturer, also created missiles based on Jericho’s design called the RSA missile. Therefore, bomber aircraft became the main delivery method.

Uncovering the Kalahari Test Site and the Vela Incident

South Africa needed to test its nuclear capabilities without attracting too much international scrutiny. The gun-type ignition tests at Somerset West had attracted some attention, but it was unclear if Pretoria wanted to test a full nuclear weapon. Near Pelindaba, engineers constructed an underground test site to make sure the weapon would work. Despite efforts at maintaining secrecy, the USSR found out about the site thanks to one of their spies, Commander Dieter Gerhardt of the South African Navy.

In 1977, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev wrote to US President Jimmy Carter and warned him that the Soviets had detected a South African nuclear test site. The CIA confirmed the claims and Washington officials became very paranoid that South Africa wanted to become a major nuclear power. President Carter began to coordinate a group of Western countries to demand Pretoria cease any nuclear weapons production and testing. Part of the reason America backed the UNSC arms embargo on South Africa was to forestall its nuclear program.

In 1979, additional developments also concerned the United States. A satellite called VELA 6911 detected an explosion over the Indian Ocean near the South African coast. Officials panicked and assumed that someone was blowing up a low-yield bomb in violation of the Limited Test Ban Treaty. Over time, members of Carter’s administration suspected it was an Israeli test. However, they also believed that South Africa and Israel coordinated together to test a new bomb. To this day, it is unknown exactly what VELA caught, but it is believed to have been a joint Israeli-RSA test.

South Africa’s Nuclear Weapons Policy

While South African leaders feared an invasion by communist forces from Angola or an internal revolt that would lead to the country’s collapse, there was very little evidence that the country was ever under an existential threat. Neither the Soviets, Cubans, or MPLA (the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola) ever intended to invade the country. Any revolts in the townships were purely an internal matter. Therefore, the question about why exactly South Africa wanted nukes puzzled observers who were aware of Pretoria’s nuclear program.

Based on what is known from some declassified documents and statements by South African officials, South Africa decided to create a small arsenal of six bombs purely for the purposes of diplomatic leverage. Unlike other major nuclear-armed states, South Africa was not engaged in a nuclear arms race. However, it wanted to ensure that the West and USSR knew that if the country felt threatened, it had a nuclear option. This policy of brinksmanship was particularly apparent during the Angola War, when South Africa wanted to show that it would not back down from controlling Namibia and backing the UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) faction.

Similar to Israel, South Africa did not announce that it had a nuclear arsenal for most of the Cold War. Maintaining opacity was considered necessary to deter South Africa’s enemies and it did not want more international scrutiny. As the Apartheid years wound down, officials in Pretoria began to ask themselves what was the purpose of maintaining this arsenal and what its future was.

Dismantling South Africa’s Nukes

As part of his effort to reduce South Africa’s pariah status on the international stage, President F.W. de Klerk ordered South Africa to halt any enrichment of uranium for nuclear purposes. He also ordered the six available bombs to be dismantled. Up to this point, as much as $240 million had been spent on South Africa’s nuclear weapons program. The international sanctions regime was making it very difficult to get the necessary parts for weapons components and any expansions to the SAFARI-1 reactor. The writing was clearly on the wall regarding the nuclear weapons program.

President de Klerk recognized that the threat from Cuban and MPLA forces in Angola was receding. He also knew that South Africa could only be welcomed back into the rest of the world if it was transparent about its security measures. In 1991, the Republic of South Africa signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). On March 24, 1993, de Klerk gave a speech before Parliament stating that South Africa had developed a nuclear weapons program and that it was dismantling them. He invited international observers to inspect the nuclear facilities. In the years following Nelson Mandela’s election, South Africa signed onto most nuclear nonproliferation statements and agreements.

South Africa’s nuclear weapons program was one of the most infamous aspects of the Apartheid system. Pretoria showed how far it was willing to go to preserve the system of segregation and White power. The RSA made major investments into WMDs when it was not faced with an existential threat. However, by being one of the few countries willing to voluntarily dismantle its nuclear weapons program, South Africa set a positive standard in the field of nuclear disarmament. It became a case study of how a country could shed its nuclear arsenal in the quest for peace and prosperity.

For the USSR, the Soviet space program was largely a source of national pride, boasting achievements such as the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, and the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin. However, these historical milestones were interspersed with catastrophic errors, technical malfunctions, and devastating rocket explosions.

1. The R-16 Rocket Explosion That Claimed Hundreds of Lives

In the early years of the space race, the USSR strove to construct more powerful rockets that could not only send people into space but also launch a lethal nuclear payload into orbit. The R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile was a colossal device designed for military applications but was also closely associated with the Soviet space program. One of the most costly failures of the USSR’s space program occurred on October 24, 1960, when a test version of the R-16 rocket exploded on the launch pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome during a pre-flight test.

Despite growing concerns among those involved in the test that technical issues were being ignored, Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin, the chief director of the R-16 test, accelerated the schedule and disregarded safety warnings. When the test began, the second stage of the R-16 rocket caught fire. This led to a huge fireball that engulfed the test center and killed approximately 150 engineers, technicians, and military personnel. The Soviet government covered up the initial tragedy for decades, and Nedelin himself perished in the blast. Despite government secrecy surrounding the incident the Soviet space program did re-evaluate safety measures during the following test flights to ensure the R-16 explosion was never repeated.

2. The Vostok 2 Incident: A Near-Fatal Catastrophe

After the huge success of the Vostok 1 mission, which saw Yuri Gagarin become the first human in space, the Soviet Union sought to follow up on this achievement quickly. The historic Vostok 2 mission was planned to launch just a few months later. It would have seen cosmonaut Gherman Titov orbit the Earth for an entire day, which is considerably longer than Gagarin’s brief flight. However, Titov’s experience was far more uncomfortable than that of Vostok 1’s.

Almost immediately after Titov entered Earth’s orbit and experienced the free fall, he began to feel violently ill. Titov suffered from acute space sickness, a condition caused by zero gravity, and was unable to consume his allocated meals. After a brief rest, Titov’s condition improved slightly, and he was able to broadcast part of his mission to the USSR. The ill-fated Vostok 2 mission almost ended in disaster when the reentry module failed to detach from the service module, and both spacecraft began to enter Earth’s atmosphere. The two modules shook violently upon reentry until the intense heat of the aerodynamic friction caused the straps holding the two modules together to burn up. Titov was ejected from the module and parachuted to safety but suffered a broken nose, among other minor injuries.

3. Soyuz 1: Vladimir Komarov’s Fatal Mission

The revolutionary Soyuz 1 spacecraft launched on April 23, 1967, intended to usher in a new era of Soviet space exploration. However, the mission ended in tragedy. Despite several unresolved technical difficulties leading up to the launch, veteran cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was assigned to pilot Soyuz 1. Problems plagued the mission shortly after it launched, as a faulty solar panel mechanism meant that most of the spacecraft was underpowered and unable to perform basic functions in orbit.

After Komarov reported the numerous technical difficulties that he experienced on board the Soyuz 1, Soviet mission control decided to abort the mission and ordered Komarov to begin the reentry procedure. Tragically, as Komarov began entering the Earth’s atmosphere, the main parachute designed to slow the descent became tangled in the secondary parachute, and the Soyuz 1 spacecraft fell to Earth almost entirely unimpeded. The capsule crash-landed just outside the city of Orenburg, where a rescue team found the burned remains of Komarov and the reentry module. He was given a state funeral, and his ashes were interred at the Kremlin Wall cemetery on Red Square.

4. Soyuz 11: The First Deaths in Orbit

The Soyuz 11 mission began as a historic moment in the history of space travel. The spacecraft had successfully entered Earth’s orbit and docked with the Salyut 1 space station, the first manned outpost in space. The crew of the Soyuz 11, Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev, and Vladislav Volkov, had completed a 23-day stay at the station where they conducted various experiments on how the human body adapts to prolonged periods in space. However, on June 29, 1971, tragedy struck the three-man crew of the Soyuz 11 as they prepared to return home.

According to the mission logs, when the work compartment was jettisoned from the service module prior to reentry, all radio communications between the craft and the surface ceased. Because the Soyuz 11 spacecraft continued the reentry process without any apparent malfunction, the ground crew assumed the mission was proceeding as planned. The craft landed successfully in Karazhan in Kazakhstan, but there was no word from the crew on board. When the recovery team opened the crew module, they found all three cosmonauts deceased inside.

After an initial investigation, it became apparent that the men had asphyxiated inside the craft before re-entry. The cause was a loss of cabin pressure due to a faulty valve mechanism that had been opened after the explosive bolts separating the reentry module from the command module had fired simultaneously. After Soyuz 11, the valve system was completely redesigned, and all subsequent manned missions required cosmonauts to wear pressurized spacesuits during reentry in case of another depressurization incident.

5. Stranded in Siberia: The Voskhod 2 Incident

In many ways, the Voskhod 2 mission in March 1965 was a huge success. During the mission, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performed the first spacewalk, a feat that stunned the world. However, the problems began soon afterward as Leonov struggled to return to the craft as his suit had expanded considerably during the spacewalk. After trial and error, the crew of the Voskhod 2 managed to get Leonov into the reentry module.

The problems didn’t end there. During the re-entry procedure, a navigational error caused the Voskhod 2 capsule to veer off course. This meant that the spacecraft landed in the Siberian wilderness, some 1,000 miles away from the intended landing site. While they were unharmed during reentry, Leonov and his crewmate, Pavel Belyayev, were forced to fend for themselves in the dense Siberian wilderness until rescue crew arrived two days later. The importance of emergency preparation was highlighted by this incident, and a new type of survival pistol was developed for Soviet space crews in case they found themselves in the Siberian wilderness.

6. The N-1 Rocket: The Failed Soviet Moonshot

The Soviet Union’s response to NASA’s Saturn V rocket, the N-1, was designed to carry a crew of cosmonauts to the moon and back. The program was plagued by a number of disastrous setbacks, none more serious than the incident on July 3, 1969, which saw an explosion occur during a second test flight.

After initially lifting off from the launchpad, a pump malfunction onboard one of the rocket’s engines caused an automatic shutdown just a few seconds after launch. The entire vehicle loaded with 2,000 tons of rocket fuel exploded as it crashed down onto the launchpad. The explosion was so severe that it crippled the Soviet lunar program and severely damaged the launch site. Several years later, the N-1 program was discontinued following a number of unsuccessful launches, effectively ending the Soviet Union’s moonshot hopes. As a result, it was the Americans who got to the moon first.

7. The Mars 96 Probe

The Soviet Union’s many Mars missions were beset with failure, with the most disastrous being the Mars 96 probe. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation sought to re-establish its dominance in space exploration by completing a number of ambitious missions in the 1990s.

Mars 96 was one such mission that sought to use cutting-edge scientific equipment to investigate the Martian surface and atmosphere. Launched on November 16, 1996, the probe’s booster state malfunctioned soon after launch, and it crash-landed in the Pacific Ocean shortly afterward. Due to increasing political and economic pressures, this was one of the last significant attempts Russia made to launch a Martian probe.

8. The Phobos-Grunt Mission

Several years after the failed Mars 96 probe mission, Russia launched the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft in 2011 with the ambitious goal of collecting samples from Phobos, one of Mars’s moons. Initially, it was heralded as an ambitious mission that would signal the return of the Russian space program to its former glory.

However, in a similar fashion to the Mars 96 probe, the spacecraft propulsion system malfunctioned soon after launch, and it failed to exit Earth’s gravitational pull. After several unsuccessful attempts to save the mission, the spacecraft fell back to Earth and burned up in the atmosphere. A lack of quality control, a common problem during the post-Soviet era of Russian space exploration, was blamed for the Phobos-Grunt failure.

Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726) is considered by many to be the greatest mind of the Scientific Revolution. In his private notes, Newton wrote mathematically what he thought the end times of the world order, or apostate Church, as it existed at the time, would look like. Instead of studying astronomic data to calculate this, he spent a lot of time on biblical scripture and alchemy in an attempt to work out when the corrupt church would fall, pointing to the calendar year 2060. 

The Hidden Archives and Decades of Study

The idea that Isaac Newton, a devout rationalist and student of empirical science, believed he could calculate this future event seems strange at first glance. And that’s why Newton never published these findings during his lifetime. He kept them hidden because he feared being ridiculed or losing his job. His calculations first came to light when a collection of private papers was sold at an auction in 1936. A British economist named John Maynard Keynes, in turn, bought them from dealers who had purchased them at the event. The papers are now digitized and archived at King’s College, Cambridge, and the National Library of Israel, among other institutions. 

Newton is believed to have spent decades studying and analyzing everything from alchemy recipes to the Book of Revelation, in an attempt to also unlock when Jesus would return to Earth. He became completely absorbed in secretly calculating the fall of the corrupt church. 

The papers were initially discovered in a portion of the archives that belonged to Newton’s family, before eventually being donated to various institutions. They represented the life’s work of a man who believed every part of the universe operated under a divine set of instructions, and that somewhere within the Bible was a formula for figuring out when the corrupt powers would end. Newton searched the Bible for these prophetic clues throughout his life, with the same intensity he used to calculate the effects of gravity.

The Mathematics of the Apocalypse

One of the timestamps which Newton took from the Book of Daniel was the cryptic phrase “time times and half a time.” The phrase refers to a period of suffering for the Jewish people. Newton believed it also pointed to a future time when the Christian church would be corrupted. Newton calculated this phrase to mean a period of 1260 days or roughly three and a half years. He used a popular method among 17th-century Bible scholars called the day-for-a-year principle. The principle assumed that one day in the text stood for one real year in history in prophecy.

He interpreted these 1260 days as 1260 literal years using the day-for-a-year principle. This way, he would arrive at his centuries-long deadline by setting the start date of this prophetic era to 800 AD, when both Charlemagne became Roman Emperor, and papal supremacy over world politics was solidified in Rome.

The Timeline of the Little Horn

Newton also chose 800 AD as the starting point because he believed that was the year that the Pope’s political power became corrupt. He believed that the corruption was the Little Horn described in the Bible. According to Newton, the year 800 marked the beginning of the Little Horn of the papacy, and he believed that key parts of Christianity had become corrupt because of political power ever since.

Adding 1260 years to 800 equaled 2060, the result of his calculation. Newton wrote down this calculation around the year 1705, which is confirmed by the original manuscript. He did not mean that he thought the world would suddenly cease to exist in a fiery explosion when he referred to the end of the corrupt age.

A Vision of Global Renewal

Newton believed that there would be a reset of worldly powers. He believed in a global removal of the corruption of the Catholic Church, a revelation of spiritual truths, and a return of Christ to usher in a new period of peace and prosperity. He believed that corrupt governments and false religious leaders would be removed and a new, peaceful 1000-year Kingdom of God would begin after the Battle of Armageddon. Newton stated that he knew the events were unlikely to begin before 2060. He saw no reason for them to begin sooner. He set 2060 as the earliest possible date. 2060 symbolized progress and renewal, not literal extinction.

From 1969 to 1979, US and Soviet negotiators worked on a set of comprehensive arms limitation treaties to regulate the nuclear arms race and reduce the threat of nuclear conflict. Two treaties were signed, but only one came into force. The negotiations, called the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, were part of the process of détente and helped to facilitate nuclear disarmament after the end of the Cold War.

US and Soviet Nuclear Arsenals in the Late 1960s

Once the Soviet Union tested an atomic bomb in 1949 in the Kazakh SSR, it was inevitable that the Soviets and Americans were going to be engaged in a nuclear arms race. The fear that a major war could break out meant that both countries wanted to gain an advantage in their stock of nuclear weapons. They also experimented with different types of nuclear weapons: long-range, medium-range, fusion or fission, land, air, or sea-launched, etc. Even after the agreement reached between the Kennedy and Khrushchev governments in 1962 to deescalate the Cuban Missile Crisis, the spectre of armageddon remained.

The United States’ nuclear arsenal was at its peak during the late 1960s, and in 1969 the United States had 27,552 nuclear weapons of all types in its arsenal. From 1960 to 1966, the US launched a fleet of 41 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines each armed with 16 nuclear missiles. Despite the losses in the Vietnam War, the United States Air Force could field over 100 B-52 bombers carrying nuclear payloads. On land, the United States had launch sites all over the country that could target critical population centers in the USSR.

The Soviets were estimated to have 10,538 nuclear weapons in 1969. It is not clear exactly how many they had because they were intentionally quiet about the size of their nuclear arsenal. Like the US, they maintained a triad of air, land, and sea-launched weapons. In 1961, they tested the largest nuclear weapon in history, Tsar Bomba, in the Arctic Ocean. Moscow had plans to ramp up its arsenal.

Buildup to the Talks

As the Vietnam War raged and the Israelis defeated the Soviet-backed Arab states in the Six-Day War in 1967, Washington was growing very concerned about developments in Soviet nuclear capabilities. Because the US had a head start on testing and producing nuclear weapons, Washington’s arsenal was larger than Moscow’s, even when not counting the nuclear weapons possessed by America’s allies. Moscow wanted to close the gap and was preparing a program to rapidly increase their arsenal. The Soviets especially wanted to even the odds regarding stockpiles of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).

In January 1967, LBJ announced that the Soviets were building an air defense system that could shoot down American ICBMs near Moscow. This could give the USSR an advantage if they wanted to strike the US first. When LBJ met with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in Glassboro, New Jersey, in June 1967, they talked about how to reduce nuclear tensions in light of the Six-Day War and America’s continued air raids over North Vietnam. They reached no major agreements, but kept a channel open between the two and promised to continue talking.

In 1968, several UN member states including the US and the USSR signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, or NPT. The signatories stipulated that the nuclear powers would not ship nuclear weapons material to non-nuclear states, and the non-nuclear signatories would not try to gain access to them. However, the treaty did not denuclearize any state and many UN members did not sign. When Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968, he faced the same issue LBJ had; how to avert the resumption of the nuclear arms race that had paused after 1963.

The First Meetings of SALT I

President Nixon decided to continue his predecessor’s efforts to reach an agreement with the Soviets. The Sino-Soviet split helped give the United States leverage to use, while the Kremlin also believed that they could use America’s struggles in Vietnam as leverage. On November 17, 1969, US delegate Gerard Smith met with Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Semyonov at the Smolna Building in Helsinki, Finland. The Finns, officially neutral in the Cold War, offered to mediate the first round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. There was hope that some kind of agreement could be reached.

The US government’s main goal was to convince the Soviets of two things: their overwhelming superiority in nuclear capabilities and their unwillingness to pursue a first-strike policy. The Soviets in turn wanted the Americans to know about the development of MIRV capabilities: missiles that could launch dozens of nuclear armed submunitions. They were hostile to any suggestions of foreign inspection of nuclear launch sites because they worried about espionage threats. Both parties tried to argue that their Anti-Ballistic Missile systems were not designed to give them a first-strike advantage.

The talks continued in a relatively respectful manner, however, not much progress was made initially. Both parties dug in their heels, fearing that concessions would lead to a lopsided deal. The next round of talks was scheduled in Vienna, where the Austrians hoped to mediate a successful round of talks. This set the stage for two years of talks on reducing the number of ICBMs and Anti-Ballistic Missile systems that either side possessed.

SALT I Signed Between Nixon and Brezhnev

From 1970 to 1972, members of Nixon’s and Leonid Brezhnev’s teams hashed out details for a comprehensive treaty targeting ICBM and ABM production. Familiar sticking points remained: whether there would be reciprocity in the negotiations, foreign inspections, and other issues. There was no discussion about reducing the launch vehicles for nuclear weapons. Additionally, the Soviets did not consider nuclear weapons aimed at countries in Europe or Asia to be strategic nuclear arms, but the United States did and did not want to jeopardize its commitments to its European NATO allies.

On May 20, 1971, the White House announced that a breakthrough had been reached. Nixon aimed to sign an agreement limiting the production and deployment of ABM systems. The Soviets were also interested in this. After two and a half years of negotiations, Nixon flew with members of his staff to Moscow and signed the first SALT Treaty. This treaty had two main components: the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the Interim Agreement on Strategic Offensive Arms.

The Interim Agreement paused additional ICBM deployment and production for a period of five years pending an additional SALT treaty. The ABM Treaty was more durable and was intended to be permanent. It did not ban the use of ABM systems, but it did limit both parties to deploy two fixed, ground-based defense sites of 100 missile interceptors each. One site could protect the national capital, while the second could be used to guard an ICBM field. By signing this, both countries gave hope for additional nuclear talks.

SALT II Negotiations

The success behind the SALT I talks inspired American and Soviet negotiators to continue working toward another agreement. President Gerald Ford’s administration pursued talks about reducing ICBM deployments in line with the terms of the Interim Agreement from SALT I. However, he was unable to conclude an agreement due to internal opposition from hawkish Republicans opposed to détente and the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976. Carter’s administration hoped to enshrine the Interim Agreement into a permanent treaty.

Talks continued in Vienna even as détente started to break down. The United States was no longer worried about the Vietnam War after the withdrawal of US troops in 1973 and the fall of Saigon in 1975. However, it was worried about a possible Soviet arms buildup in Europe and hoped to deflect criticism from the hawks in the Republican Party who opposed détente. Following the signing of the Vladivostok Accords between the Ford and Brezhnev governments, which banned the construction of new ICBM launch sites, the Carter administration pushed for a comprehensive deal reducing ICBM quantities in both countries.

On June 18, 1979, the US and Soviet governments announced that they had reached an agreement. The SALT II Treaty established parity between the two nations in terms of nuclear weapons delivery systems. It also limited the number of MIRV missiles used by both countries. However, it did not address other elements of the American or Soviet arsenals. Carter and Brezhnev met in Vienna and signed the deal in spite of opposition from hardliners in both countries. It was believed that SALT III would address long-range nuclear bombers in the future.

Collapse of Both Agreements

Carter’s successes were undermined by the increasing willingness of the Soviets to use force to resolve their problems. In 1979, Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan to prop up its communist government. The United States was infuriated and fruitlessly demanded the Soviets halt their military operation. Hawks, especially the new Republican neocons, felt vindicated in their belief that only force could stop the Soviets. They helped Ronald Reagan get elected and pushed for a hardline approach towards the Soviets.

The Senate refused to ratify the SALT II Treaty because many senators felt that the agreement was in favor of the Soviets. Senator Henry Jackson was especially opposed to SALT II. A conservative Democrat, he demanded that the US push for a more aggressive approach towards Moscow. At the same time, the Supreme Soviet in Moscow never ratified the treaty either. This collapsed any nuclear arms talks until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985.

The START treaties signed between the US and Russian governments in the 1990s and 2000s built on the earlier progress from detente. However, nonproliferation efforts collapsed again under the weight of increasing tensions between Washington and Moscow. Washington withdrew from the ABM Treaty in 2001 and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine extinguished any efforts to restart nuclear talks, similar to the Afghanistan invasion in 1979. While anti-nuclear treaties helped to reduce US-Soviet tensions during the latter stages of the Cold War, they did not prove durable once neither Moscow nor Washington wanted to keep to the terms.

Amidst the secretive atmosphere of the Cold War, the Soviet Union closed off entire cities to the outside world. These settlements were hidden from maps and road signs and were largely inaccessible to outsiders. Closed cities in the USSR were home to centers of military, scientific, or industrial activity that were often tied to the Soviet nuclear weapons program. While many of these closed cities have been opened to the outside world, their history and purpose remain shrouded in mystery.

1. Arzamas-16 (Present-day Sarov)

Arzamas-16, known today as the city of Sarov, was the Soviet Union’s primary nuclear weapons research center. As such, it was the USSR’s equivalent to Los Alamos in the United States. First established in 1946, the city played a critical role during the development of the Soviet Union’s first nuclear bomb, which was successfully built in 1949. Arzamas-16 is located in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and was completely sealed off from the outside world. To make sure that no outsiders got a glimpse of what was taking place inside the city, it was surrounded by barbed wire and heavily guarded by soldiers.

The legion of scientists and engineers who lived and worked in Arzamas-16 enjoyed a quality of life that was considerably better than those in the rest of the USSR. Despite its isolation, the city boasted modern comforts, frequent cultural events, and higher wages, which made it an attractive destination for anyone lucky enough to be granted access to live there.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Arzamas-16 was renamed Sarov by Boris Yeltsin in 1995. Today, the town of Sarov remains a closed city and is under the control of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom. All visitors to the town require special permission, and their movements are closely monitored.

2. Krasnoyarsk-26 (Present-day Zheleznogorsk)

Krasnoyarsk-26, today known as Zheleznogorsk, was a closed city in the Soviet Union established in 1950 for the production of weapons-grade plutonium. Located in a remote Siberian forest region of Yenisei, the underground facilities of the city were kept hidden from aerial surveillance and potential enemy attacks. Built to produce the materials necessary to create the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenal, the city was built around the Mining and Chemical Combine, which housed a number of nuclear reactors and reprocessing plants that were buried underground. For decades, these facilities produced the plutonium necessary to fuel the Cold War arms race.

While those living and working in Krasnoyarsk-26 were closely monitored, they enjoyed a quality of life that differed greatly from that of their Soviet comrades. While some towns in the USSR struggled to supply even the most basic goods to their residents, the shops and leisure facilities of Krasnoyarsk-26 were kept fully stocked. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Krasnoyarsk-26 became Zheleznogorsk, a town that specialized in the treatment and storage of nuclear waste. However, it still remains a closed city, and no unauthorized access is allowed.

3. Molotovsk (Present-day Severodvinsk)

Molotovsk, known today as Severodvinsk, was a closed city that played an important role in the Soviet Navy. Established in 1938, Molotovsk was primarily home to the various construction facilities that built and maintained the fleet of Soviet nuclear submarines. As a result, the city became one of the most important hubs for the Soviet Navy and played a key role in the development of the USSR’s strategic submarine fleet during the Cold War arms race.

The shipyard at Molotovsk was the largest in the Soviet Union and was responsible for building nearly all of the USSR’s nuclear-powered submarines. Because of its sensitive facilities, the city was heavily guarded by the Red Army and kept off-limits to outsiders. Today, the city of Molotovsk, now known as Severodvinsk, remains largely closed to unauthorized individuals as it continues to play a vital role in the production and maintenance of the Russian Federation’s nuclear submarine fleet.

4. Chelyabinsk-40 (Present-day Ozyorsk)

Chelyabinsk-40, known today as Ozyorsk, was one of the most notorious closed cities of the Soviet Union due to its role in the production of weapons-grade plutonium and its proximity to the Mayak Production Zone. Founded in 1945, the town of Ozyorsk was vital in the development of the Soviet Union’s first nuclear weapon. Notably, the town was also the site of one of the world’s worst nuclear incidents, the Kyshtym disaster of 1957.

The Kyshtym disaster took place in 1957 when a large blast rocked a nuclear waste storage area near the Mayak nuclear facility and released huge amounts of radioactive material into the surrounding area. While there remain conflicting reports surrounding the nature of the incident, the Soviet government has publicly admitted that the explosion was caused by a failure in the cooling system at a nearby open-air nuclear waste storage area. This resulted in a chemical explosion that was equal in size to several tons of conventional explosives. The fire was so severe that it produced a column of radioactive debris that spread high into the atmosphere and distributed radioactive fallout across an area of thousands of square kilometers. To cover up the incident, the Soviet government designated the most contaminated areas as a new nature reserve. Today, the area is known as the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace region.

After the initial explosion, the immediate contamination affected local infrastructure, residential areas, agriculture, and all buildings in the nearby city of Ozyorsk. Notably, workers who were dispatched to the Mayak facility to put out the blaze unknowingly brought back radioactive material in their clothing and spread fallout across the entire city as they returned home.

5. Norilsk

Norilsk, originally established as a Gulag labor camp during Stalin’s Great Purge, is a unique Soviet closed city in that it was primarily an industrial hub and not related to the Soviet nuclear weapons program. During the Soviet Union’s rush to rebuild after World War II, the vast mineral resources located in and around Norilsk made it a strategically important city.

Even after Stalin’s death, Norilsk remained largely closed off to the rest of the Soviet Union due to its industrial significance and strategic location. While the residents of Norilsk enjoyed modern amenities, the environmental impact of the decades of mineral mining has led to Norilsk becoming one of the most heavily polluted places on Earth. Today, Norilsk is no longer a closed city but access to the town is still highly restricted, and non-Russian residents are largely prohibited from entering.

6. Zvezdny Gorodok

Zvezdny Gorodok, also known as Star City, is a unique closed city that served as the heart of the Soviet space program. Star City was established in the Moscow region in the 1960s as a base to train, house, and observe the cosmonauts and engineers who made the Soviet space program possible. Notably, Star City was the training ground that Yuri Gagarin used to prepare for his historic flight into space. Today, the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center remains one of the world’s most prestigious cosmonaut/astronaut training facilities.

During the height of the Cold War, the city was shrouded in secrecy, and its exact location was kept secret from the rest of the USSR. Today, Zvezdny Gorodok is no longer a closed city and even hosted contingents of NASA astronauts as they trained to fly on board a Russian Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station.

7. Pripyat

Pripyat is perhaps one of the most tragic closed cities in the history of the USSR. Originally established in 1970 to house the engineers and workers of the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the city had a growing population of almost 50,000 people until April 26, 1986. On that day, reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded during testing of the reactor’s safety mechanisms.

The explosion released huge quantities of radioactive material into the atmosphere that contaminated large areas of the Soviet Union. The contamination released by the explosion of reactor number 4 and the ensuing blaze was equivalent to approximately one hundred Hiroshima bombs. In response, the Soviet Union established an exclusion zone around the power plant, and Pripyat was permanently evacuated. Today Pripyat is a pseudo tourist attraction and an impromptu nature reserve, with the crumbling concrete tower blocks providing a permanent reminder about the dangers of radiation.

8. Chelyabinsk-70 (Present-day Troitsk)

Chelyabinsk-70, known today as Troitsk, was a secret Soviet city established in the late 1940s as a part of the Soviet Union’s race to build a nuclear weapon. Located in the remote Siberian region of Chelyabinsk, the city served as a center for the design and manufacture of nuclear weapons in parallel to the closed city of Arzamas-16. The city attracted some of the Soviet Union’s most brilliant scientific minds.

The residents of the closed city worked in absolute secrecy on advanced nuclear technologies such as the hydrogen bomb. However, similar to many other closed cities, their tightly controlled environment afforded them higher living standards, modern housing, prestigious schools, and leisure facilities. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the city has been known as Troitsk. The area remains closed to the outside world and continues to play a role in research and development.

The ancient Greeks considered the number seven to represent completeness and perfection. Therefore, when they came up with lists of the wonders of the world, they stopped at seven. The most famous list was compiled by Philo of Byzantium in 225 BCE. This also inspired the New 7 Wonders of the World compiled in 2007. However, not only have two millennia of history passed between the two lists, but the original wonders were confined to the Mediterranean world, so there is a strong case for significantly expanding the list. We think these ten landmarks are excellent candidates.

1. The Acropolis, Greece

It is a bit of a surprise that the Greeks didn’t include their own Athenian Acropolis on their list. A timeless symbol of ancient civilization and democracy, the landmark attracts more than 23,000 visitors every day. Covering 7.5 acres, the 5th-century BCE Acropolis still has four standing structures: the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Propylaia.

Built under the leadership of the famous Pericles, some of the most renowned sculptors and architects of ancient Greece worked on the Acropolis. As for the Parthenon, it was dedicated to the goddess Athena, the city’s patron goddess. He statue was 40 feet tall and was made from cypress wood covered in gold and ivory. A pool of water sat before the statue to maintain humidity and reflect flickering lights.

2. Moai, Chile

The Rapa Nui people, indigenous inhabitants of Easter Island, Chile, made the incredible Moai statues around 1,100 to 1,500 CE. Some weigh many tons and are more than 30 feet or nine meters long. Carved from volcanic rock, mainly from the Rano Raraku quarry, they were transported to different locations around Easter Island. The statues represent the faces of ancestors and important figures.

The statues were placed on ahu. These were large stone platforms that served as ceremonial sites. Some of the Moai were adorned with pukao, large cylinders or hats placed on the heads of the statues. The pukao were made of volcanic red scoria.

3. Banaue Rice Terraces, Philippines

The Banaue Rice Terraces are often called the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” Over 2,000 years ago, the Ifugao people, an indigenous group of Filipinos, carved the rice terraces into the mountains. These terraces are a standing testament to the advanced irrigation systems and agricultural techniques that the indigenous people developed. Located around 1,500 meters above sea level, they cover a wide area across the Ifugao province.

4. Stonehenge, UK

The standing stones of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain have become an iconic symbol of historic England. The construction of Stonehenge spanned several centuries, and the monuments were completed in multiple phases. The process started with the excavation of a circular ditch and bank around 3000 BCE. This is when the “Henge” was formed. Construction continued through 2000 BCE. The Stone Circle is the most famous part of the structure.

Two main types of stones were used to construct Stonehenge. These include the larger Sarsen stones that were sourced locally and the smaller bluestones that were transported from Wales, over 150 miles away. While all the other monuments and historic landmarks on our list have a purpose behind building them, the exact objective and significance of Stonehenge remain a mystery.

5. The Terracotta Army, China

China’s Terracotta Warriors were discovered while a group of local farmers was digging a well in Shaanxi province in 1974. Excavations revealed that these warriors were crafted by killed laborers and artisans more than 2,000 years ago, during the Qin Dynasty. What for? To accompany the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor. He ruled from 259 to 210 BCE. The thousands of life-sized terracotta soldiers, along with their chariots and horses, were buried to protect him in the afterlife.

Today, the Terracotta Army is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and millions of visitors flock to Shaanxi every year to see this unique archaeological discovery. Each warrior is unique, with individual facial expressions, hairstyles, weapons, and armor.

6. Angkor Wat, Cambodia

In the 12th century, King Suryavarman of Cambodia built the Angkor Wat. It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple. The first temple to be dedicated to the god Vishnu. However, it was later turned into a Buddhist temple. The Angkor Wat covers around 400 acres and is considered the largest religious monument in the world in terms of land size.

Angkor War is an architectural marvel. The wall carvings mimic an ancient picture book, giving a glimpse of life in the Khmer region, historical happenings, and Hindu stories. All the expansive galleries, towering spires, and stone carvings are made from sandstone blocks. One thing to note is that the design of the temple symbolizes Mount Meru. This is the home of the gods in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology.

Famous reliefs at Angkor Wat depict the “Churning of the Ocean of Milk,” a story where Vishnu takes the form of a turtle to stabilize Mount Meru.

7. The Alhambra, Spain

The Alhambra palace and fortress at Granada was built in the 13th and 14th centuries during the Nasrid Dynasty. Back then, the Muslim rulers used it as a royal palace, fortress, and court for the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. It combines mosaic tiles, beautifully detailed stucco work, elaborate courtyards, and arabesque designs. The main sites you need to visit in the Alhambra include the Court of the Lions, the Palace of the Lions, and the Generalife Gardens.

Originally a medieval Islamic palace, after the Reconquista in 1492, the Alhambra fell under Christian control. As a result, the new rulers modified and even added some sections to the place.

8. The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

This structure was just meant to be a free-standing bell tower for Pisa’s cathedral. However, during construction, it began leaning because of its weak foundation on unstable soil. And the tilt kept increasing over the years. It wasn’t until the 20th and early 21st centuries that efforts were made to stabilize it. The lean was reduced from 5.5 degrees to around 4 degrees after extensive restoration. Today, the tower is structurally stable.

The 183-foot-tall structure is part of the Piazza del Duomo, and while its construction began in 1173, it wasn’t completed until 1372. With eight stories, the Leaning Tower of Pisa weighs about 14,500 metric tons. The tower has seven large bells at the top, but they have not been rung for over a century.

9. Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, Egypt

Carved out of solid rock, the ancient necropolis of Egypt’s Alexandria dates back to the Greco-Roman period, around the 2nd century CE. In the very beginning, when they were constructed, these tombs served as the burial site for a wealthy family. However, they were expanded later to include more tombs. The name “Kom el Shoqafa” means the “Mound of Shards.” It refers to the piles of broken pottery that were found around the site. These were left by ancient visitors who brought food and offerings, discarding the containers afterward.

While the catacombs consist of three levels, the lowest is underwater. When visiting, you can only explore the upper levels. You will get the chance to see several burial chambers, a spiral staircase leading down to the tombs, and a banquet hall. You’ll also witness Egyptian religious symbols blended with Greek and Roman artistic elements at the Main Tomb.

10. Eiffel Tower, France

The Eiffel Tower is one of the modern world’s most important man-made structures. It was completed in 1889 as part of the “Exposition Universelle” (World’s Fair) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Gustave Eiffel is the designer of the 1,083-foot-tall tower. This was the world’s tallest structure until 1930, the year in which New York City’s Chrysler Building was completed.

Court astrologers served as prominent advisors, counseling sultans on auspicious periods for declaring war, issuing decrees, and even giving birth. Whether it was superstition or science, court astrologers supported five centuries of Ottoman rule under one dynastic family, a feat most European empires never accomplished.

Institutionalization of the Court Astrologers

Since the 9th century AD, celestial studies played a crucial role in Islamic faith traditions, scholarship, and navigation. Astrology was not viewed as esoteric fortune-telling but a “science of the stars.” Bayezid II formalized astrological practices into an institutionalized court position by the late 15th century. One müneccimbaşı, chief astrologer, was appointed by the sultan to lead a team of astrologers called munajjims.

The munajjims became world-renowned astronomers. Aspiring court astrologers studied at the medrese and underwent rigorous training in geometry, astronomy, instrumentation, theology, and law. For instance, the müneccimbaşı Taqi-al-Din produced some of the most sophisticated and accurate astronomical observatories and tools in the early-modern world.

Military Campaigns: Waging War and Laying Siege

Astrology was consulted for military campaigns to decide when to declare war. For instance, astrologers were a key influence in Mehmed II’s conquest of Constantinople. After a month of high casualties and little success, Mehmed’s advisors suggested abandoning the siege. 

Yet on May 22, 1453, a lunar eclipse shone a blood red moon over the city. Astrologers argued that the eclipse fulfilled a prophecy about the fall of the city. Embracing this interpretation, Mehmed II launched his final assault on May 29, 1453, and defeated the Eastern Roman Empire. Court astrologers remained a prominent part of military planning for the next 400 years. 

Imperial Politics: Decisions, Decrees, and Authority

Court astrologers were also involved in politics. They forecast when to appoint the grand vizier and issue imperial decrees. They also assessed the political risk of celestial events. Eclipses and comets were interpreted either as omens of triumph and success or periods of plague, natural disaster, invasions, or riots.

However, if a chief astrologer fell out of political favor, they found themselves arrested, exiled, or in extreme cases, executed. For example, Taqi ad-Din was shunned after misinterpreting a comet in 1577. While he saw the comet as a sign of a future conquest of Persia, a horrific plague instead maimed the empire. Political and religious leaders opposing Taqi ad-Din condemned the plague as divine punishment for his new observatory. In 1580, Murad III (r. 1574-1595) bombed the complex into rubble.

Dynastic Planning: Marriages, Births, and Accessions

Court astrologers were tasked with forecasting the upcoming year for the imperial family. Almanacs and calendars offered personal horoscopes and timing advice for members of the royal household. They advised on when to host imperial events, royal weddings, circumcision ceremonies for young princes, give birth, travel, and begin education. 

However, not all sultans heeded the advice of court astrologers. Some dismissed the practice on religious grounds, whereas others simply viewed it with skepticism. For example, Sultan Selim III (r. 1789-1807) did not believe in astrological forecasting. Yet, he still permitted the work of astrologers as an ingrained custom of the imperial court.

Timekeeping: Court Calendars, Almanacs, and Call to Prayer

Timekeeping was another crucial role of court astrologers. The chief court astrologer oversaw and administered the muvakkithanes, the official timekeeping offices attached to mosques. He was also tasked with producing the annual takvim, or court calendar. This calendar merged Islamic dates with planetary calculations to schedule the most favorable dates for Ramadan, religious feast days, state ceremonies, fasting schedules, and horoscopes. 

The calendars were held in such high regard that they were presented to the sultan in a dedicated ceremony as part of the annual New Year Nevruz festivities. During the ceremony, the sultan would be handed the takvim by the chief astrologer, who, in return, received a gift from the sultan.

Beneath Tokyo’s skyscrapers and Kyoto’s shrines rest millennia of history. For decades, one of the biggest questions in East Asian history was: “Who were the first people to live in Japan?”

DNA testing and dating have shown that the simple idea of a single homogeneous Japanese group descending from a handful of ancestors is inaccurate. Japan’s ancient past seems to have been influenced by waves of migration from at least two and most likely three distinct groups. First, there were the Jomon Japan’s hunter-gatherers.

Jomon, the First Japanese

It all began about 38,000 years ago, long before the end of the last Ice Age. Cut off from mainland Asia by rising seas that covered the land bridges, the Japanese islands became home to a group of hunter-gatherers known as the Jomon. “Jomon” means “cord-marked,” which refers to the special pottery that is decorated with rope. Unlike many other hunter-gatherer groups at the time, the Jomon rarely moved, and lived in permanent villages.

The Jomon were short, with deep-set eyes and thick brow-ridges. They lived in pit-houses and roamed Japan’s forests wearing clothes made from bark fibers and animal hides. It is likely their ancestors split from other groups about 20,000 to 15,000 years ago, which is when the Jomon became isolated in Japan as rising waters cut off the land bridges. For nearly 10,000 years before the Yayoi arrived, the Jomon lived as the only people in Japan.

The Jomon are believed to have grown plants, like chestnuts, and managed the local forests. They were also spiritual people who made small clay figures known as dogu. Experts believe dogu may have been charms used for fertility or even healing ceremonies.

The Immigration of the Farmer-Yayoi

Between 300 BC and 300 AD, travelers from the Korean Peninsula and coastal China, known as Yayoi, made their way to Japan, bringing with them knowledge of rice-farming, metal tools, and weaving.

Unlike the Jomon hunters, the Yayoi were farmers who turned Japan from a hunting society into a farming economy centered around rice fields. The change was slow and involved both conflict and mixing. The Yayoi first settled in northern Kyushu before moving east into Honshu, where they went deeper into the forests previously used by the Jomon.

The Yayoi built houses with raised floors and lived in large villages led by powerful chiefs. Experts have found old bronze bells called dotaku at Yayoi sites, which show that they, like the Jomon before them, had spiritual beliefs, though theirs were more organized and focused on the farming seasons.

Physically, the Yayoi were, on average, taller than the Jomon and had distinct facial features. For many years, experts used a theory called the Dual-Structure Theory, created by scholar Kazuro Hanihara in 1991. Hanihara’s work hypothesized that modern Japanese people were the result of the Yayoi mixing with local people like the Jomon. While the theory still holds up today, modern DNA tests have changed the story, with studies finding that the amount of Jomon DNA in modern Japanese people is much lower than once thought. The DNA of the main ethnic group in Japan, the Yamato, contains just 10 to 20 percent Jomon markers.

A Mystery Wave Emerges

To make things even more complex, Japanese experts now prefer a model they call Triple-Structure to explain the main DNA strains of the populace. In 2021, scientists from Japan, Ireland, and China shared the results of the first DNA study of ancient Japanese remains. In the journal Science Advances (Cooke et al.), ancient DNA results showed that a third, very large wave of people entered Japan during the Kofun period, about 300 – 700 AD.

DNA tests show that the newcomers were mostly East Asian, like the Han Chinese people living in parts of East Asia today. The migrants, along with the Yayoi who came before them, went on to create the first central Japanese state. Experts have also seen an increase in advanced weaving and complex metal tools appearing among the items found from this period.

The Mixing of the 3 Groups

DNA tests have shown that this third wave of migrants added a large amount of new DNA to central Japan. The Jomon influence in modern Japanese people is strongest at the ends of the islands, with the Ainu people of Hokkaido and the people of Okinawa having much more Jomon DNA than people on the main island of Honshu.

The mixing of Jomon hunters and Yayoi farmers, along with the later Kofun migrants, created the unique Japanese people and culture we recognize today.

Piracy is a way of life traditionally associated with men. However, plunder on the high seas was never an entirely male occupation. Over the centuries, women have confounded stereotypes to demonstrate that they could be equally successful pirates. While the history of women pirates is often tangled in myth and legend, the accounts tell of their strength, resilience, and fearsomeness in equal measure to their male pirate counterparts. Despite the obstacles they faced, these women proved their ability as fearless leaders of the seas.

Women in Pirate Lore

Where do women fit into tales on the high seas, besides as sirens dragging ships to their deaths? Laura Sook Duncombe, author of Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas, attributes women’s absence from pirate tales and historical records to pirate women not harmonizing with gendered personifications of the sea, as well as ‘traditional’ expectations of women.

The sea historically has been personified as a feminine force that can be equal parts serene, divine, unpredictable, and dangerous. It followed that men were responsible for, or rose to the challenge to, taming it in some way, a literary trope seen in stories as old as Homer’s Odyssey to Hemingway’s 1952 novella The Old Man and the Sea. Female pirates disrupt the personification of the sea as feminine; what does it mean when a woman ‘dominates’ a feminine object?

Female pirates also subverted expectations of women as childbearers, or anchors of the home whose bounds were confined to domestic spaces. Just like men, for women the sea meant freedom, no borders, exploration, and being untethered to any stability or home.

1. Queen Artemesia of Halicarnassus

What is known about Queen Artemesia of Halicarnassus is left to us by two ancient texts: The Histories of Herodotus and Stratagems of War by Polyaenus. Herodotus is known as the Father of History, though the reliability of his accounts has long been questioned. However, he was a native of Halicarnassus and wrote admiringly of Artemisia.

Artemesia was the widowed queen of Caria in southwestern Anatolia who ruled her kingdom from the city of Halicarnassus in present-day Bodrum, Turkey. While the Carians were Greeks, Artemisia commanded five ships as part of King Xerxes of Persia’s invasion of Greece in 480 BC. In Herodotus’s account, Artemisia is the only female admiral in Xerxes’ war council, and the only one who advised him against seeking battle with the Greeks at Salamis. When Xerxes decided to launch an attack regardless, Artemisia dutifully led her fleet into the fray.

As Artemisia had anticipated, the Greeks were well prepared for the naval attack. With Persian ships trapped in the narrow straits of Salamis, Artemisia rammed into an allied Persian ship to escape. This tricked her enemy into thinking hers was a Greek ship, allowing her to leave the battle unscathed. Xerxes also believed that she had sunk a Greek ship and remarked “my men have become women and my women have become men.”

2. Queen Teuta

The exploits of Queen Teuta of Illyria were recorded by several ancient historians, most notably Polybius. She and her husband King Agron ruled the region of Illyria in the western Balkans around 231 BC. After the King died, apparently from a drinking binge, Queen Teuta became his de facto successor in the name of her young stepson Pinnes. Allegedly, one of her first accomplishments was granting all naval ships licenses to essentially loot and steal whatever they could in order to bring plunder to Illyria (Duncombe, p. 15).

Queen Teuta’s fleets blew through the coasts of the Adriatic and Italy (Duncombe, p. 16). They attacked not just enemy ships, but also their own allies. Anyone was fair game. The Queen would sometimes join the raids herself, and showed no more mercy than her subordinates. In one story, Queen Teuta and her ships arrived in a town begging for water with empty jugs. Once the gates were open, she and her forces ditched the containers and grabbed their swords, commencing their attack on the town. She quickly became known as the “Terror of the Adriatic,” and was a burgeoning thorn in the side of another Mediterranean power (Duncombe, p. 16).

Not only would Queen Teuta’s crews raid Roman merchant vessels, they would also enslave the sailors on board. In one instance, the Roman authorities sent envoys to ask her to stop her attacks on Roman vessels. She refused. To add injury to insult, she had one of the messengers killed. The Queen’s ‘terror’ went as far as western coasts of present-day Greece. The Greeks, although enemies with the Romans, temporarily allied with the Romans to confront the threat of the Illyrian pirates.

Queen Teuta’s maritime exploits came to an end when Rome declared war against Illyria and conscripted other cities to join them in 229 BC. She fled to the Illyrian fortress of Rhizon (Risan in present-day Montenegro), where she and her loyal subjects remained in a year-long siege (Dubcombe, p. 18). After supplies ran out, Queen Teuta was forced to surrender, which the Romans accepted.

3. Lagertha, the Viking Shieldmaiden

According to the 12th century Danish historical text Gesta Danorum, Lagertha was a 9th century shieldmaiden, or a Viking woman renowned for her fierce fighting skills on land and at sea. She is mentioned after a fatal attack by Swedish King Frey on her village, where she and other women were forcefully placed in a brothel (Duncombe, p. 28). Catching word of this, the Danish leader Ragnar Lothbrok set out to save them. According to the text, upon his arrival, Lagertha disguised herself as a man to fight alongside his ranks.

In the midst of fighting, Lagertha stands out to Ragnar for her skills and ferocity. So much so he asks for her hand in marriage. Allegedly, after some time Ragnar leaves her for another woman and heads home to Denmark. Later, he becomes so embroiled in a civil war that he calls Lagertha to his aid. She accepts, and along with her 120 ships helps secure Ragnar’s victory (Duncombe, p. 29). However, after Ragnar’s safety was sealed, she used a concealed spear to stab Ragnar, claiming the Danish throne for herself. Although Lagertha’s story shares similarities with myths of the Norse goddess Theogord, her tale suggests that the Viking women could be successful military leaders.

4. Sayyida al Hurra

The story of Sayyida al Hurra is set in the backdrop of the fall of Granada at the end of the Reconquista. After the fall of the city, Sayyida and her family, the Banu Rashids, returned to North Africa. Sayyida’s family was one among many other Andalusian refugees who were forced to leave Spain. The traumatic experience motivated Sayyida to seek revenge against European and Christian ships through piracy.

Sayyida’s husband Captain Abu al-Hasan al-Mandri, also a refugee, received approval from Morocco’s Sultan to establish a settlement on the long-abandoned port city of Tetouan (Mernissi, 19). After his death, Sayyida became a prefect, and was later elevated to governor, or Hakima Tatwan (Mernissi, p. 18). In 1515, she became the last woman in Islamic history to earn the title ‘al-Hurra,’ meaning “the noble lady who is free and independent; the woman sovereign who bows to no superior authority” (Mernissi, p. 115).

Sayyida al Hurra would eventually contact the famous Ottoman pirate Barbarossa, who helped her furnish a fleet to raid Christian ships in the Mediterranean (Mernissi, p. 19). Sayyida was famous for capturing crew members of Portuguese and Spanish ships, forcing the representatives of the two powerful nations to negotiate their terms of release with her directly. Not much is known about the subsequent fate of Sayyida al-Hurra, but she is mentioned throughout Spanish and Portuguese historical records and logs from this time. Notably, almost no Arabic sources mention her during this time.

5. Anne de Graaf

Less well known than other female pirates of the age, Anne de Graaf was a French woman whose tales of piracy occurred on the island of Tortuga in present-day Haiti, where she likely arrived between 1665 to 1675 (Duncombe, p. 91). There is much speculation regarding why and how she ended up there. She may have been sent there as part of a group of women to encourage the male population to settle and become farmers. However, it is also likely that Anne may have been deported for prostitution in France. It was common practice for criminals, which at this time included prostitutes, to be sent to the colonies.

Conditions of her arrival aside, once in Tortuga, she married French buccaneer Pierre Le Long. Not long after, Le Long was supposedly killed by Dutch buccaneer Laurens de Graaf. There are many versions of how exactly Anne and de Graaf became a pair, and one in particular speculates it was Anne’s challenging de Graaf to death for revenge that allegedly inspired de Graaf to ask for her hand (Duncombe, p. 92). Anne therefore became Anne de Graaf and joined her new partner aboard his ship.

Although women’s presence was considered bad luck on ships, a common superstition, she was allegedly well-liked by de Graaf’s crew. She was even nicknamed as Anne Dieu-le-Veut, or “God wills it.” Whatever Anne wanted, she got (Duncombe, p. 93). Rather than plaguing the ship with bad luck, she apparently became their good luck charm.

Anne partook in the buccaneer’s attacks on Spanish ships. Separately from pirates, who were indiscriminate in their attacks, Buccaneers would solely target Spanish ships in the Caribbean. Not only were their fleets full of high-value cargo from all over the globe, they moved extremely slowly, making them easy to capture. The story goes that when Laurens de Graaf was killed in a battle by a Spanish cannon, Anne took the ship’s command as captain. The bloody battle ended with Anne’s defeat. After she and her crew were captured, it is unclear what became of Anne’s fate.

Bibliography

Duncombe, Laura Sook. Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas. Chicago Review Press, 2019.

Mernissi, Fatima, and Mary Jo Lakeland. The Forgotten Queens of Islam. University of Minnesota Press, 2012.